A CARAVAN was found neatly perched on top of an otherwise empty skip in Newport, much to the amusement of waste collectors.

The 1.3 tonne vehicle had been placed on the skip in an area of Newport last week, but local company GD Environmental Services refused to collect it.

Skip driver Tyrone Covell, from Newport, said he could not believe what he was seeing when he went on a job last Friday.

The 43-year-old said: “I’ve been working as a skip driver for GD Environmental for over nine years, and during this time I’ve come across some strange things including an empty coffin and a wedding dress. But a caravan on a skip is like nothing I’ve ever seen before!

“When I pulled up to collect the skip, I had to double take; I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I called the office to let them know what I had found but I was half expecting them to jump out of the bushes laughing at me - for a minute I thought it was a practical joke!”

GD spokeswoman Melissa Hodges added: “A skip has a limit on it which is clearly identified and if it’s over that we can’t collect it because of the weight.

“We told [the customer] a full list of items that we couldn’t collect before we turned up there. But when we told them we couldn’t take the caravan, he argued it wasn’t a prohibited item. To be fair, we don’t come across this very often.

“We were losing money because we couldn't sell the skip to other customers but we kindly asked them to dismantle the caravan and they had until Monday to do it for collection, which they did.

“They were just pushing their luck. They probably knew we wouldn’t take it.”